Fit-easy facing for hats



July 10,l 1928.

l. E. RlsLEY FIT EASY FACING FOR HATS Filed Feb 25 'IQPG l y I /vToe f. ASL/EY Patented July l0, 1928.

narran stares INEZ E. RISLEY, OF LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA.

A FIT-EASY FACING FOR HTS.y

Application filed February 23, 1926.7( Serial No. $50,018.

My present invention relates to what l may term tit-easy facings-designed for use in the lining and ornamentation of hat brims. My invention includes made-up facing units which are suitable for distribution as articles of manufacture and are in-v tended to be handled through the usual channels of wholesale and retail millinery trade; and, for this purpose, my brimfacing'units may be separately enclosed in glassine paper envelopes, or the like, permitting the same to be easily inspected without risk of damage,--as for the purpose of select-ing a size or shape or color to give a desirable ensemble effect.

It is an object of this invention to relieve milliners of'a large part of the labor, anxiety qand delay heretofore incidental to the providing of a colored or decorative facing beneath the brim of a selected hat. vvHeretofore, in order to provide for the facing of a brim, the customer who may have purchased (and maybe wearing) a given hat has been required to visualize the effect likely to be obtained by, (l) cutting a piece of silk or other facing material from yardage, (2) cutting a piece of reinforcing wire from a coil or reel thereof, simultaneously and laboriously fitting and securing these elements beneath the outer edge of the brimof the hat to be faced, (5) cutting and (6) inserting and (7) securing the inner edge of this selected. facing material while y(8) gathering the same,-these operations being presumably followed by (9) the stitching-in of a lining and by a (10) final steaming and (11) pressing of the wholeall of said operations requiring timeskilled labor, taste and involving the delays and mishaps unavoidably incidental to any made-to-order business; it is an object of this invention to simplify the above operations by enabling any prospect 'to look yover and select from a stock of preformed brim-facings, each comprising the mentioned members but assembled independently of any hat and made up in standard and assorted shapes, sizescolors and designs. TheJ selected facingperhaps chosen with special regard to the matchingy color in a dress purchased subsequently to a haty y mately straight strip, the inner edge thereof which ris to be brought into harmony therewithis thus quickly applicable, in the presence of the customer, as for the purpose of immediate wear.

Other objects of my invention, including preferred sequences of assembly and organizations which comprise not only facingsr proper, with their requisite reinforcements, but also additional i decorative members adapted to be disposed either above or below hat brims-.according to the character of the saine and/ or the taste ofthe wearer-will be ,appreciated fromthe following description of alternative embodiments of my invention, taken, in connection withy thejappended claims and the accompanying drawings, in lwhich f Fig. 1 isa top plan View illustrating a `made-up brim facing or hat-finishing unit as enclosed, for lstorage and/or transport and/or display and/or sale rin a transparent envelope.

Fig. 2 is a diagrammatic view illustrating, as in vertical section on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1, a made-up facing unit of the same general character. n j i Fig. 3 is a perspective view of ahat providedl with an embodiment of my invention similar'to that shown in the preceding' figures, with parts broken away.

Fig.` 4 is a diagrammatic perspectiveview showing, `in vertical section, a hat comprising a` crown andafbrim, and showingv also a facing unit adapted-to be applied thereto.

Referring tothe detailsof that simpleembodiment of my invention shown diagrammatically in Fig. 4, 11 may bea main textile vmember cut from a web of suitably colored silk, or-from selected facing material rand adapted to contact with the brim of the hat to be trimmed, this memberhaving the form of a lflat band resembling in area and form thevbrim 12 of the 'hat to be finished or decorated thereby; the outeredge 13 of the facing 11 may be-pr'ovided with a neat hem enclosing a reinforcing hoop 14, of wire, or

the like; and the inner edge 15 of the facing material 1l lmay be carried upward `within a textile band reinforcement 16, conical ingeneral shape, vformed of so-called spiretta or a similar materiah-this band reinforce-. ment being secured to the lfacing material by means` such as one or two rows of machine stitching 17.

vWhether ornot the in the form of a completely or approxibeing then preferably gathered or pleated in a uniform or attractive manner during the application of the same to the mentioned facing `11 is initially loo Uil

reinforcing 'members (assuming that said `together in a manner favorable to reliance upon a final pressing operation in bringing the inner edge of the resultant brim-facing unit or organization into a satisfactory titting relationship with the inner edge V19 of the hat to which said unit may presently be secured. v

If desired, and in order to satisfy the requirements of more exacting patrons, I may, as suggested in Fig. 2, associate with a facing material 11a, reinforced by av peripheral hoop 14:a and by a band 16a (both laps ot the facing material being shown, in Fig. 2, as retained by one or more rows of stitching 17a) an' outeil web 20a of a preferred diaphanous or other decorative material, preferably embroidered or otherwise decorated somewhat as suggested in Figs. l and The periphery of this additional and diaphanous layer may be reinforced, like the eripliery of the :facing material 11 or 11a,

y means of a wire or other hoop 14a; and, if desired, this wire or hoop may be associated with and concealed by additional reinforcing and decorative members such as a tape 21a and/or a fringe strip 22a,-allof these peripheral reinforcing or decorative elements being optionally secured by a row or rows of stitching 23,-serving incidentally to provide ahem at the' outer edge of the diaphanous or other material a.

I prefer not to utilize the machine stitching '17, or other permanent stitching, in securing thediaphanous material 2Oa to the inner reinforcing band 16, of spiretta, or its equivalent, relying rather upon a limited number of hand stitches, as suggested at 249, to so secure the mentioned diaphanous material as to facilitate the momentary removal of said diaphanous material, with its peripheral reinforcement and/or decoration, as for the purpose of applying the same above a hat brim 12, in the general manner suggested in Fig'. 3. That is to say, although a complex hat-finishing or brim-facing unit or organization of the general character illustrated in Fig. 2 may, if desired, be disposed entirely beneath a 4hat brim as by the use of a few stitches in securing the peripheral reinforcing member and thevband reinforcing member relatively to the respective edges of a brim) it is an important merit of brim-facing or hat-finishing organizations of the general type illustrated in Figs. 1, 2 and 3, that the diaphanous member 20, or equivalent, this being detachably secured by relatively few stitches 24a to the central reinforcing band 16, or its equivalent, may be quickly and easily separated therefrom, as vfor the purpose of disposing the said diaphaiious member, with its peripheral reinforcement and/or decoration above the brim of a hat, one or more rows of stitching 25Il being employed for the attachment of the same and optionally also for the purpose of providing a hem at the upper or inner edge of said member,-wliere the same may contact with the crown 26a of the selected hat.

It will be appreciated that, whether or not stitched and sewed together as above described, the diaphanous member 20a, or its equivalent, with any'desired peripheral reinforcement and/or ornamentation may optionally be applied to a hat distinct from v that to which the facing material 11a, or its respective reinforcements, may be attached; and, as impliedv above, my facings may be made up from a great variety of materials,

very diverse in color'and in ornamentation,

two or three different widths of brim being optionally provided for in each'of the shades or colors popular during a particular season.

It will, however, be appreciated that my facing units need not exactly correspond in diameter with the brims of the hats to which they are applied,-it being entirely lpracticable to stitch the kreinforcing members 14, 14, etc. at a uniform or varying distance from the outer edge of a hat brim, and practicable also to permiteithei" an opaque facingy ora diaphanous member, such as themember 20, to extend beyond the edge of or to replace'a brim; and, even though my brim-facing and hat-finishing units may vary within wide limits in type and in dimensions, they may, if desired, be enclosed in uniform glas'sine or other envelopes 27a, to protect the same during storage, transport, display, and sale,-the ordinary purchaser being presumably qualified quickly and easily to attach the same to any hat previously or simultaneously purchased; and the cost of my described units may be so low as to encourage the frequent substitution of facings, as for the purpose of giving an old hat the appearance of newness or for the purpose ofbringinga selected old or new hat. into harmony Y with selected costumes,-linings,y not shown,

being stitched therein.

Although I haveherein described alternative embodiments and uses of my invention, it will be appreciated not only that various features of myl invention might be independently employed, but also that numerous additional modifications might be devised, by those skilled in the art. to which this case relates, without involving the slightest departure from the spirit and scope of my invention, as the same is indicated above and in the following claim.

By hoop-likev, in said claim, I mean to refer to reinforcing elements, such as Wires, which tend to maintain a circular or elliptical general form; and by spiretta-like I mean to refer to a light and flexible textile material having a somewhat open mesh but having stiffness enough to assure a tendency toward the retention of a form (as, a conical form) imparted to the same by pressing.

I claim as my invention:

As an article of manufacture, a made-up brim facing unit for hats comprising: a main textile member in the form of a flat Web made endless and adapted to contact with the surface of the brim of the hat on which said facing unit is to be used; a circumferentially extending reinforcement and a Web of diaphanous material provided with peripheral reinforcement, detachably secured to said textile member reinforcement.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto sety 20 my hand at Los Angeles, California, this 

